Black and Blue

Rating:
Summary: Found Truth
Review: I read this book about a year ago, and was deeply tocuhed by the story Quindlen told. I am son of a battered woman and while never witness to the attacks my father inflicted on my mother, this book allowed me to expereince her pain. The book afforded me the opportunity to find the truth behind what it means to be abused, to have one's dignity and self respect stripped from one's being day by day hit by hit verbal barb by verbal barb. The thing that I found most compelling about Quindlen's novel is that she did not conclude the story with a "pretty bow on the box". While it is true that brusies and scars heal, victims of domestic abuse never truly recover from being abused, as the psychological scars stay with them their entire lives. I applaud this book for its honesty, and I found Quindlen's character developemnt of Fran and the exploration of her internal motivations to be very compelling. This is an excellent book for readers who want to know about the impact domestic violence has its victims and the ripple effects the experience of being abused has on victims lives.

Rating:
Summary: A well-written book with an uncreative title.
Review: Frances Benedetto is the wife of a New York City policeman, the mother of 10-year old Robert and a full-time nurse at the hospital. She is also a severely battered woman who lives daily in the fear that anything she may say or do, anything at all, could set her husband, Bobby, off. It all began close to twenty years ago when they were dating, mildly at first so that she thought Bobby just had a bad temper and married him anyway. Over the years, though, it has gotten progressively worse, until he breaks her nose and bruises her up her face horribly (he has always centered his anger on parts of the body fairly easy to cover up). She cannot call the police. He is the police. So she takes her son Robert and "disappears" with the help of a woman from the hospital who relocates physical abuse victims. In her new home in Florida, with her new name and her new identity, Frances and Robert attempt to begin a new chapter in their lives without Bobby. And, although after a few months, they both begin to make new friends, there is always the haunting possibility that they will be found and this time Frances is sure Bobby will kill her. Quindlen created a very emotional Frances yet not irrational. A very intelligent woman who considers all the circumstances, a woman who cares more for her son than herself even though she is suddenly without emotional, physical or financial support from a man. Something she had for seventeen years and most women would attempt to replace as soon as possible. I would certainly pick up another of Quindlen's books if they are anything like Black And Blue.

Rating:
Summary: B & B Bruises
Review: In "Black and Blue", Anna Quindlen has put a daring face on ultimate real life terror. In one opening line, "The first time my husband hit me I was 19 years old", we are swept into a seductive, violent, tense world.

I was engrossed by this woeful tale. Yet, I found myself frowning most of the time. Lines forming on my face from a bit of bogged down writing, but mainly from the subject matter. I prefer to read more escapism, but once in a while I need to slap my reality senses into order.

A good read, especially in the beginning. If it helps one woman escape this sort of brutality, Ms. Quindlen has done her job well.

Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS

Rating:
Summary: A book worth reading
Review: I thought this was a good book for a couple of reasons. First - it complicates the question - "Why did she stay?" There are so many reasons. She loves her husband - is it possible to understand that love from the outside? No, but love is a powerful motive and even where there is no abuse, love requires some level of illusion, optimism, hope and the narrator has that. She stays because he says he'll kill her if she leaves. He's a cop and this makes that threat all the more real. I liked how the book did not make her a victim any more than he is or anyone would be - we are all equally victims and not victims of our feelings, attachments, circumstances, and abuse "victims" are not any more victims than anyone else, their circumstances are just more harrowing and harder to extricate from. The book equally complicates the question - why did she leave? Not just for her son - but because someone gave her a way out, a promise of help; a business card with a number to call. This was enormously important. The final aspect of Fran's motivations is uncomfortably close to home - she wants home, a picket fence, security, sameness, and having all this taken away from her when she does finally leave, she expresses resentment which at first shocks, then makes sense. It is nice to have a carpet for your feet, a bed, clean sheets, the salary a husband makes - and these are things many women, in wanting to marry, do aspire to. Why does the domestic violence victim have to be judged extra harshly for wanting these things too? Sadly, the spouse she looked to to provide them exacts much too high a cost - and we all have a responsibility to extend a hand to make it easier for women to leave. But that includes making it possible for women to earn as much as men if they're on their onw, and the reality is, that's not happening yet. A woman is better off financially if she has a husband to help out as long as wage inequalities exist and as long as we don't even have universally accessible day care.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: This is the first time I read an Anna Quindlen book. Her story started out pretty good but I had a hard time routing for Fran (the main character) with the choices she made. And the ending left me a bit confused. It was almost as if the author had to hurry up and finish the book. All in all it was a half way decent read but it could have been a little less predictable.

Rating:
Summary: Memorable depiction of spousal abuse
Review: As an admitted Anna Quindlen groupie, I think that this novel is one of her best. Fran Benedetto comes across as a real character and the reader is made to root for her as she starts over in a new city. As one who grew up in an abusive family situation, the abuse scenes were so real that I felt I was once again in the room. Only a really talented writer could accomplish such an achievement. I read this book before it was selected as an Oprah Book Club selection so I was not surprised by the responses received after the announcement. I can only say -- hats off to Anna Quindlen -- your success is well deserved. I hope that the book sales record is such that it propels yet another novel. The author's non-fiction work is always thought provoking. However, her novels are what really grab your emotions.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I gave this book three stars, because it, in some respects, is typical Anna Quindlen. Well-written, with a well-paced plot, lyrical flow, and gentle style.

I could not, however, ever quite manage to transcend my dislike for the main character. Yes, Fran has been victimized, and, yes, she has flaws and is imperfect and human like the rest of us. Her behavior, however, is so disjointed and dislikeable, it was impossible to warm up to her, and a remark the character makes toward the end of the book makes it clear she has learned nothing from her experience. In her effort to show the strained dance between abuser and abused, perpertrator and victim, Ms. Quindlen creates a character who, despite her best efforts, would enable the same behavior that nearly destroyed her.

This story left me with very little hope for any of the main characters. A real disappointment from the usually-excellent Anna Quindlen.

Rating:
Summary: Black, blue and bored
Review: This is the first time reading Anna Quindlen and I was not very impressed. The book is by no means horrible, however, it is relatively dull. I had to force myself to get through it, but I did. I kept waiting for the climax and never felt it really reached it. It seems that Frannie truly is defeated in the end instead of fighting back. Of course, she had a hard road in escaping her abusive husband, but in the end she loses her most prized possession, her son. Then it ends. She misses her son, has a new life with a new man and a new child and then....well, that's it. It seems to me that a mother would fight much harder to recover her only boy. After all, isn't her son why she left in the first place? She did all of that to just lose him in the end? In my opinion, I wanted Frannie to have it all after what she went through. Quindlen may have left some readers who have experienced domestic abuse wondering why they should leave. After all, look what Fran lost. The story could have been so much more empowering to show Fran have it all after the struggles she experienced. It could give hope to even one person, knowing that life can be recovered and you do not have to lose your most prized possession, your child. At times the novel is very real while at other times it is difficult to relate. And again, do not keep hoping for a big climax, because it never happens. So, if you want a slow-paced summer read, this one is for you. If excitement and suspense is what you look for, pass this one up.

Rating:
Summary: Rebuttal to Christine H. Review
Review: Black and Blue is one of the best audio books I have ever listened to. I am wondering if Christine H. read the same book. I do not think that abuse of women fits any mold. Everyones situation is different. Quindlens book transports you into Franny's world. You feel her fear, her pain, and the fragmentation of her self esteem. It is a riveting book that you can't put down. The kind of book that I am always searching for. I would be interested to know the kinds of books that Christine H. finds exciting after reading her negative review of this fine novel. Steeny Betker

Rating:
Summary: Black and Blue review
Review: What I found amazing about Black and Blue after the first few pages was that it was authored by the same woman who wrote One True Thing. It is almost agonizing to read in parts but you will come away from it looking at others differently. Those who have never lived in an abusive environment have absolutely no clue what it can be like to live a life like Fran Benedetto and her son Robert. After finishing the book you will find yourself thinking of Fran and her son and in fact haunted by them. Anna Quindlen has become someone whose books I will read simply because she has written them. There is no need to wait for reviews and bestseller lists as she will write something extremely worthwhile in reading. I know that I'll finish her next book having learned something as well, something about human spirit and fortitude.